I'm SO Stoked!

I have to share this with SOMEBODY that will be excited (as excited?) because my family are all "Ya, that's cool" as they keep just doing what they're doing.

In the fall, I set out to start my Couch to 5K program outside. At the time, I ran with my niece who is nineteen. It was pretty ugly. She was way ahead of me, and I trudged along huffing and puffing. I would run 3-4 minutes and then I'd have to walk 3 minutes or so. This was a step back from what I'd been doing in the spring, while living in Halifax, and it was pretty disappointing. It was, to say the least, brutal. I was dying and not sure why I was even out there.

Fast forward to today. I haven't run since that day, in October or so I'd guess. The weather here was fantastic and I was deciding what workout to do when it just hit me-"Get outside!"  I laced up my sneakers, grabbed my  eldest daughter and hit the road.

We walked 2 minutes, and then started to jog. She was ahead of me, but I was okay with that. I just wanted to focus on doing my own pace, but more so, on trying to minimize the walking portion. Let me admit right away, I was struggling in my head. My breathing was crap and I could taste that coppery sensation in my mouth. I told myself, "Hey, you run this, and longer, on the treadmill all the time. You can do this!" and "Your legs aren't tired! Just keep going!" For awhile, I truly doubted if I'd be able to go a minute longer. When I looked at my time, I had been running 8 minutes straight. I went another two minutes to make it 10 full minutes of running time, and then walked for 3 minutes to catch my breath. Well, and maybe spit a time or two.

Once the three minutes were up, I ran again another 10 minutes!!! In total, I did 3.25km's and ran for 20 full minutes, with only 3 minutes of walking. I walked another minute or so at the end to catch my breath.

Let me add in here, my daughter? She may have started ahead of me, but by the time we got to the 3 minute walking portion? She was DONE. I ran her home and kept going! She's been complaining since getting in that her legs are killing and asking me, "Are your legs so sore??"  Guess what? Not. At. All. I was teasing her that her almost 40 year old Mother just outlasted her! Take THAT!

So, I made some dinner and am about to do some baking for the week ahead, but I'm off and on almost teary that I accomplished this! I know it sounds silly for only 3.25k, but I've had it in my Bucket List to run a 5k at some point, and I was starting to feel like it was just never going to happen for me. After today, I really, really feel confident that I can ACTUALLY do this!  For me, this is a huge, huge thing.

I'm hoping I can keep this up, and I hope I can keep running with it! Pun intended!